Are Autistic and Alexithymic Traits Distinct? A Factor-Analytic and Network Approach

Cuve, Hélio Clemente; Murphy, Jennifer; Hobson, Hannah; Ichijo, Eri; Catmur, Caroline; Bird, Geoffrey

doi:10.1007/s10803-021-05094-6

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Cronbach's α showed good internal consistencies for DIF ( α = .85) and DDF ( α = .74) and acceptable internal consistency for EOT ( α = .60). Most importantly in this research context is a recent study showing that despite their frequently observed covariation, autism and alexithymia traits measured with AQ and TAS can be considered as distinct constructs [44].…”

Section: Neuropsychological Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

Autism traits outweigh alexithymia traits in the explanation of mentalising performance in adults with autism but not in adults with rejected autism diagnosis

et al. 2022

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Background Pronounced alexithymia traits have been found in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and recent research has been carving out the impact alexithymia traits might have on mentalising deficits associated with ASD. Method In this cross-sectional study, a large representative referral population for diagnostic examination for possible ASD (n = 400) was screened for clinical alexithymia with a German version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RME). In contrast to previous attempts to carve out the impact of alexithymia traits on mentalising deficits though, we employed dominance analysis to account for the correlation between predictors. The relative relationship between alexithymia traits and autism traits with RME performance was investigated in the group of individuals with confirmed ASD diagnosis (N = 281) and compared to the clinical referral sample in which ASD was ruled out (N = 119). Results Dominance analysis revealed autism traits to be the strongest predictor for reduced mentalising skills in the ASD sample, whereas alexithymia contributed significantly less. In the sample of individuals with ruled out diagnosis, autism traits were the strongest predictor, but alexithymia traits were in sum equally associated to mentalising, with the External-Oriented Thinking subscale as an important predictor of this association. Limitations It needs to be considered that the cross-sectional study design does not allow for causal inference. Furthermore, mentalising is a highly facetted capacity and measurements need to reduce this complexity into simple quantities which limits the generalizability of results. Discussion While alexithymia traits should be considered for their mental health importance, they do not dominate the explanation of reduced mentalising skills in individuals with ASD, but they might do to a larger degree in individuals with ruled out ASD.

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Section: Neuropsychological Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

Autism traits outweigh alexithymia traits in the explanation of mentalising performance in adults with autism but not in adults with rejected autism diagnosis

et al. 2022

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“…One of these is alexithymia, which refers to difficulty in recognizing and describing one's and others' emotional states, [148][149][150] and which has been suggested as a possible explanation for the observed difficulties in social interactions and emotional reciprocity in individuals with ASD. [151][152][153][154] Another proposed mechanism is deficits in empathy, which is the ability to experience others' feelings and show concern for their suffering. [155][156][157][158] This has been suggested as a possible explanation for the central impairments in social interactions in ASD, including difficulties with emotional engagement.…”

Section: Computational Approaches and Clinical Populations Reveal Beh...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multimodal investigations of emotional face processing and social trait judgment of faces

Yu,

Lin,

Sun

et al. 2023

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Faces are among the most important visual stimuli that humans perceive in everyday life. While extensive literature has examined emotional processing and social evaluations of faces, most studies have examined either topic using unimodal approaches. In this review, we promote the use of multimodal cognitive neuroscience approaches to study these processes, using two lines of research as examples: ambiguity in facial expressions of emotion and social trait judgment of faces. In the first set of studies, we identified an event‐related potential that signals emotion ambiguity using electroencephalography and we found convergent neural responses to emotion ambiguity using functional neuroimaging and single‐neuron recordings. In the second set of studies, we discuss how different neuroimaging and personality‐dimensional approaches together provide new insights into social trait judgments of faces. In both sets of studies, we provide an in‐depth comparison between neurotypicals and people with autism spectrum disorder. We offer a computational account for the behavioral and neural markers of the different facial processing between the two groups. Finally, we suggest new practices for studying the emotional processing and social evaluations of faces. All data discussed in the case studies of this review are publicly available.

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“…To explore the underlying psychological mechanisms of social-affective difficulties in individuals with ASD, several theories have been put forward. One of these is alexithymia, which refers to difficulty in recognizing and describing one's and others' emotional states [143][144][145], and has been suggested as a possible explanation for the observed difficulties in social interactions and emotional reciprocity in individuals with ASD [146][147][148][149]. Another proposed mechanism is deficits in empathy, which is the ability to experience others' feelings and show concern for their suffering [150][151][152][153].…”

Section: Atypical Social Trait Judgment In Asd Is Associated With Per...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multimodal investigations of human face perception in neurotypical and autistic adults

Wang¹,

Sun²,

Cao³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Faces are among the most important visual stimuli that we perceive in everyday life. Although there is a plethora of literature studying many aspects of face perception, the vast majority of them focuses on a single aspect of face perception using unimodal approaches. In this review, we advocate for studying face perception using multimodal cognitive neuroscience approaches. We highlight two case studies: the first study investigates ambiguity in facial expressions of emotion, and the second study investigates social trait judgment. In the first set of studies, we revealed an event-related potential that signals emotion ambiguity and we found convergent response to emotion ambiguity using functional neuroimaging and single-neuron recordings. In the second set of studies, we discussed recent findings about neural substrates underlying comprehensive social evaluation, and the relationship between personality factors and social trait judgements. Notably, in both sets of studies, we provided an in-depth discussion of altered face perception in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and offered a computational account for the behavioral and neural markers of atypical facial processing in ASD. Finally, we suggest new perspectives for studying face perception. All data discussed in the case studies of this review are publicly available.

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Are Autistic and Alexithymic Traits Distinct? A Factor-Analytic and Network Approach

Cited by 18 publications

References 65 publications

Autism traits outweigh alexithymia traits in the explanation of mentalising performance in adults with autism but not in adults with rejected autism diagnosis

Autism traits outweigh alexithymia traits in the explanation of mentalising performance in adults with autism but not in adults with rejected autism diagnosis

Multimodal investigations of emotional face processing and social trait judgment of faces

Multimodal investigations of human face perception in neurotypical and autistic adults

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